After the War
by freemelanie
Summary: Series of one shots starting a week after Voldemort was defeated for the last time. Harry and his friends will have to face demons that they never have had to face before. They must learn to cope with loss and stability. Includes a variety of characters.
1. Chapter 1

It has been a week since Harry fought Voldemort at the battle of Hogwarts. He must face the demons of loss and remember to continue on. This is a story of the second week after the war.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters that goes to good old J.K. I am not making any money.

Harry left the graveyard with nothing but bitterness. It has been a week since Voldemort had died and all Harry felt was the aches and pains of losing all those people. He couldn't bear to stay at the Weasley's while they mourned for Fred and he couldn't go back to Grimmauld Place without the reminder of his fight with Lupin. He felt responsible for the fact that his Godson now was without a father and a mother. He felt responsible for the tears that Ginny had shed. He felt responsible for the countless innocents who had died and now that the funerals were done with all he wanted to do was find a secluded spot and stay there until it was gone. The pain. He longed to not feel it. It was like a raging sea constantly pounding its waves against his heart. It was unbearable. Reaching the end of the lane he looked back upon the two graves of Tonks and Lupin. With a silent goodbye he apparated.

'Harry, Harry I know you are in here, please open up,' came the voice of Hermione 'Harry, please.' Slowly rising from the couch that he had been on for over twelve hours he went to the door. 'Harry open this door right now. The barman downstairs said that I could blast it open as long as I repaired it. Please.' Undoing the bolts that had the door locked shut he opened to the face of his friend. The minute she saw him her face relaxed. 'Pushing the door aside she flung her arms around his neck and they stood there in the silence of the room. Not to his surprise Harry felt droplets of water landing on his shirt and when his own eyes started to water he pushed away from her and walked to the window. 'Harry is isn't doing you any good to stay here. Please come back to the Weasleys, please.' Her voice was pleading with him and when he turned to look at her he felt a little bit of the burden on his shoulders lift. She was right of course he thought. He had done this before and shutting people out only dragged him through more pain. 'Hermione, I can't go back right now. All that is there is a reminder of what we've lost' Harry said with a sigh. Hermione's sad face then twisted with anger. 'Harry, everywhere you look there will be reminder, and though we have lost so much think of all that we have gained. You have rid the world of an unspeakable evil. You have given more to the lives of the wizarding world than anyone else. We have lost much, Harry, but we have also gained so much more.' Hermione lifted her hand to his shoulder. 'Come back Harry it's not worth it sitting here alone to deal with it.' Harry glanced up into his best friends face and succumbed to her request. Turning away from her he grabbed his jacket and his wand and took her hand.

To his surprise they did not apparate to the burrow but to Godrics Hollow. Harry looked at Hermione and when their eyes met she spoke with a quiet voice. 'I thought you might want to tell them that it is over, that they didn't die in vain, and that you are grateful for them and for the sacrifices that they made.' Breaking eye contact harry walked forward. His eyes were once again wet with tears and he knew that she was right. Maybe the first step to healing is where it all started. When Voldemort made his decision and decided the fate a boy no older than one years old. Harry turned to grab Hermione's hand and looked at her. 'You're right Hermione,' Harry said and tugged her to the graveyard that held memories of tears, terror and loss. As they passed the war memorial and watched it transform he stood there at the happy family. Turning away he walked on with Hermione at his side. As they entered the graveyard next to the church his eyes found the spot that Hermione and he had visited not too long ago. The flowers that Hermione had placed on the grave stood proud declaring that he loved them. They should have been long dead, but knew that Hermione must have placed a charm on them to survive. Harry knelt and placed his head against the cold gravestone and silently thanked his parents. Tears streaked down his cheeks and after a period of time had passed he stood and hugged Hermione. 'Thank you,' Hermione said to the gravestone, 'Thank you for your son. Thank you for your sacrifice. The wizarding world will forever be indebted to you. Thank you.' She murmured for that last time. 'Harry, we better get going the Weasleys will be worried that I haven't come back yet and if we don't get back soon Ron might send the entire ministry looking for us. Harry nodded and turned back to the grave for one last look. 'Bye Mum, bye Dad' he said and turned and walked away.

Authors note

Hi everyone. Please review. I hope you like it I would love to hear your thoughts on where you want this story to go. If any of you are a beta reader and is interested in helping me out please pm me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

The brief period of suffocation was over and Harry could breathe he turned toward Hermione. "Are you ready," she said. Harry thought this over for a second and then with a little puff of air he walked forward.

"I don't know,' Harry said with a shrug. He knew what was in store for him. The minute he walked through that door Ron would clap him on the back and Mrs. Weasley would fold him in her arms and weep. He wasn't ready. Yet despite all these things he longed to be a part of this family. His family. He wasn't equipped for this. No one gives advice for after hard times they only tell you how to get through it. As these thoughts swirled around his mind he felt a small hand on his arm.

"Harry, we can do this. No matter how we feel we must do this together. We must face what is before us and not flinch. We must continue on. If we take this a step at a time I think we can get through this. Step one," Hermione said with a slight grin, "walk inside the house. Step two accept the hugs and handshakes. Step three return the favor. Step four- "Hermione halted thinking for a moment, "Step four, serve."

Harry looked up at this with a confused expression. They had served the wizarding world so much, his turn was over. Hermione looked back at him steadily "Service helps heal others and I figure if we are helping others heal we will slowly heal too. Harry I believe that if we just sit around waiting for the sadness to go away that it will consume us. I don't want that, I want to show Voldemort that no matter how much he put us through that we can go on. We show everyone who every caused us any grief that we don't give a dang!" As she said this her face turned from a soft one to a look of determination. 

"Alright Hermione, it's the only plan we have got and the longer I wait by this gate the more anxious I am going to get so let's go." Harry turned with Hermione and with looks of determination walked to the front door.

Harry had guessed right about their reactions. The Weasley's had embraced him and thanked him to many times to count. Step three return the favor. Harry turned around to face Mrs. Weasley and pulled her into a long hug. He silently tried to thank her for all her work. For her strength and courage. When he released her, her eyes were shimmering and she looked at him for a brief moment before turning and walking toward the kitchen. Harry looked about the room and his gaze fell upon Ginny. She had been looking down at the latest newspaper and after reading the heading **Where Is Our Hero**, had tossed it on the coffee table with her face twisted. Harry slowly walked over to her ignoring the voice inside his head that told him to stop and when he reached her he pulled her into a long hug. Her arms responded immediately and when they wrapped around him the sadness inside him seemed to seep out. It was as if Ginny was detoxifying him. Without letting go his gaze fell upon Ron who looked at him with a face of skepticism. Harry let go and without looking back at Ginny because he feared he would do something stupid like kiss her and touched Ron's arm and with a silent nod he gestured toward the garden. Relief swept over Ron's face. They were all at the point where they could barely hold their tears back and so to get out of the house was a relief.

When they had reached the safety of the garden Ron said, "Well mate that went better than expected. I thought for sure the minute you walked in Mom would die of sadness, but I was wrong, thankfully." Ron paused and the continued. "You know I thought this would be different. Finishing the job like this. I thought we would be celebrating and that we wouldn't have any more worries. I thought that it would feel like it was over."

"Did you know that they are calling us the golden trio?" Hermione said changing the subject. Harry chuckled and glanced at Ron who was staring at Hermione with a sad expression but when he realized that Harry was staring he spoke up.

"Oh yeah, well we weren't so golden when we first met that three headed dog of Hagrids. What was his name? Fluffy?" Ron "or what about that time when we got caught coming out of Moaning Myrtles bathroom? I still remember the look on Percy's face. God knows we've been up to worse but it was as if we killed a baby bunny." Harry sides were shaking as they remembered all the times that they hadn't been "golden."

"Now if you two don't mind I am going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed – or worse, expelled." Harry said mimicking Hermione's voice. At this time they were all laughing so hard that Mrs. Weasley had come outside to see what the ruckus was all about. Laughing at her incredulous face they walked toward her.

Harrys face turned more somber and he said to all around him, "We can do this. I really think we can do this."


End file.
